Chapter 2 - Precautions
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It was a cool sunny September morning. The first thing Mamoru did, was to get a few papers. Motoki had gone to sleep on the couch, shortly before daylight. They hadn't talked much last night, only the TV had been running again to fight the silence.
There really were two short articles on the eartquake, and even a longer one. They simply stated the facts, three people killed, a few more injured, a few of the old warehouses in East Tokyo partly destroyed. Since it had been a Sunday morning, in an industrial area, the place was pretty much deserted. Two of the victims had been workers, the third one was a seventeen-year-old girl, who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
But it was nothing spectacular really. Earthquakes weren't that uncommon, and there had been much bigger ones during the last few years. Like the one where the subway tunnel broke, and more than eighty people had to be rescued from the train. Or the one downtown, that shook a few skyscrapers. The longer article also contained some kind of survey, on areas especially endangered, and how you could make your home more secure.
That was all. No pictures, no names. It was less than what Rei had told him. He rembered her visit clearly although the rest of the day was a grey mist inside his head.
Her story sounded perfectly plausible. For a long time the Senshi had been using the storehouses- most of them empty anyway, as a training ground. The practise was only routine, after the defeat of Galaxia no new dangers had appeared. It seemed like peace was finally stable on earth. But you could never know, of course, so staying in shape was necessary. In a way it was almost sarcastic. A girl who had saved the earth many times, was killed by something as simple as a natural catastrophy. A girl who loved to sleep in late, got up before dawn, trying to fulfill her duties and had to pay for it.
"It was an accident", Rei had said, "there was nothing we could do. We weren't in the same place when the earthquake began. I was right outside the hall she was in, but I didn't know at that time. The ground trembled and there was stuff falling from the roof, so I opened the door to get under the door frame.
Then I heard her scream, and I ran inside. I called the others over the communicator, and they came in a few minutes later, but I was the first one to reach her. Some barrels had gotten loose, they had fallen right on top of her. Together we could lift the barrels off her, but it was too late."
When she told him, she seemed strangely calm. After she was done, he asked her to leave, he wanted to be alone now. That was the point where yesterday had faded into nothingness.
Later that day he called Usagi's parents. In a polite way, but nevertheless firmly her father told him, that they did not wish to speak with him now. It didn't surprise him. Parents who lost their daughter have other things on their mind.
He went into his bedroom. The pictures on the desk hadn't changed in any way. In a way he had lost a daughter, too. Looking at her felt so strange now, now that he would never see her again. Actually she had never really existed, only in his memories, and those of the Sailor Senshi.
Had Chibi-Usa simply vanished? Or did she live in a different timeline? In a parallel universe? To answer that question, you had to understand what time really was, and so far no one did. Perhaps Setsuna would know. The guardian of time knew more about its secrets than anyone else did.
***
Rei felt extremely sorry for disturbing Usagi's family, nevertheless she had to get into her friend's room. She had to make sure, no one found out anything about Usagi's secret identity. That would only raise more questions, and also endanger the identities of the other Senshi. They were vulnerable enough without Sailor Moon.
She told Kenji she needed to get some school stuff Usagi had borrowed from her, and he let her in. Once in Usagi's room she closed the door behind her and took a deep breath.
Yesterday had been a horrible day. They needed to make up a plausible story for the police, and had to make sure their depositions did not contradict. Fortunate enough no one suspected anything, and no one expected them to stay calm all the time. After all they had watched a friend die, and that was the truth, no matter what version of the story.
As Rei stood in Usagi's room she realized yesterday was nothing compared to this. The pain gripped her almost instantly, it seemed like a physical hand knocking her down.
The room was a chaos like always, books, clothes, even toys scattered everywhere on the floor. No one, who didn't know her, would believe that this room belonged to a seventeen-year-old.
On her desk lay an unfinished drawing, with a bunch of colored pencils around. Usagi would never come back to finish it. She would never again read any of the manga piled up next to her pillow. She would never again wear her dark blue school uniform. And she had been so proud to pass the exams.
Rei's eyes were locked on the uniform, it was ironed and neatly placed on a hanger. That was probably Ikuko's doing, after all she couldn't have known, that her daughter wouldn't need it anymore. It was impossible to imagine how she felt now, having raised a kid for almost twenty years, and then......
Rei tried to fight it, tried to hold back the tears, she knew once they broke through, she could forget everything about keeping a cool head. She had an obligation towards the others, they relied on her. She could not let them down. What was worse, she could not let Usagi down.
She already had Usagi's brouch and her communicator. In the bottom drawer of her desk was the transformation pen. Although it had lost its power long ago, she decided to take it with her, just to be sure.
She could not possibly collect all the drawings, stories, manga and the other stuff Usagi had created about being a Senshi and a princess. That didn't really matter, no one would think them anything other than the imaginations of a creative young girl. No one would take them for real.
It would be different with a diary. She knew that Usagi had kept one, and probably she would have mixed everyday-life-stories with her Sailor adventures.
Where would she keep it? Even an untidy girl would attach great importance to something as private as a diary. The classical hideout would be somewhere near the bed, perhaps under the matress.
There it was.A pink heart-shaped book with a lock. Now only one more thing was missing. The clock Usagi had recieved from Mamoru, a golden watch on a chain, shaped like a star. When you opened it, it played a sweet melody. How much she had loved it! It was a big surprise anyway, that she hadn't taken it with her, when she had left. So it had to be here. But where? She had already checked all the places a girl would hide private things.
She didn't know for sure how that clock was connected to Usagi's secret identity, after all any girl could own gifts from her boyfriend. But she knew for sure it was a magic item. A miko could tell these things.
"You alright?" Shingo looked into the room. She noticed that he had grown bigger than her. No wonder, he was already fifteen. She still remembered the little boy, who had played tricks on them. She had still thought of him as a little boy when she had dinner at Usagi's place about a week ago. Now he had grown.
"No", she said as an answer to his question. "I'm not! But none of us is, I guess! But I got my stuff, if that's what you mean."
They went downstairs. She was already out the door, when he called her back. "Say Rei-san!" She turned around.
"I was wondering," he said a little embarassed, "like in a few weeks or months, when Mom feels a little better, I was wondering if you and the others could still come over some time. If you guys want to have tea with us, or something."
She nodded "Sure."
--------------------------------
It was a cool sunny September morning. The first thing Mamoru did, was to get a few papers. Motoki had gone to sleep on the couch, shortly before daylight. They hadn't talked much last night, only the TV had been running again to fight the silence.
There really were two short articles on the eartquake, and even a longer one. They simply stated the facts, three people killed, a few more injured, a few of the old warehouses in East Tokyo partly destroyed. Since it had been a Sunday morning, in an industrial area, the place was pretty much deserted. Two of the victims had been workers, the third one was a seventeen-year-old girl, who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
But it was nothing spectacular really. Earthquakes weren't that uncommon, and there had been much bigger ones during the last few years. Like the one where the subway tunnel broke, and more than eighty people had to be rescued from the train. Or the one downtown, that shook a few skyscrapers. The longer article also contained some kind of survey, on areas especially endangered, and how you could make your home more secure.
That was all. No pictures, no names. It was less than what Rei had told him. He rembered her visit clearly although the rest of the day was a grey mist inside his head.
Her story sounded perfectly plausible. For a long time the Senshi had been using the storehouses- most of them empty anyway, as a training ground. The practise was only routine, after the defeat of Galaxia no new dangers had appeared. It seemed like peace was finally stable on earth. But you could never know, of course, so staying in shape was necessary. In a way it was almost sarcastic. A girl who had saved the earth many times, was killed by something as simple as a natural catastrophy. A girl who loved to sleep in late, got up before dawn, trying to fulfill her duties and had to pay for it.
"It was an accident", Rei had said, "there was nothing we could do. We weren't in the same place when the earthquake began. I was right outside the hall she was in, but I didn't know at that time. The ground trembled and there was stuff falling from the roof, so I opened the door to get under the door frame.
Then I heard her scream, and I ran inside. I called the others over the communicator, and they came in a few minutes later, but I was the first one to reach her. Some barrels had gotten loose, they had fallen right on top of her. Together we could lift the barrels off her, but it was too late."
When she told him, she seemed strangely calm. After she was done, he asked her to leave, he wanted to be alone now. That was the point where yesterday had faded into nothingness.
Later that day he called Usagi's parents. In a polite way, but nevertheless firmly her father told him, that they did not wish to speak with him now. It didn't surprise him. Parents who lost their daughter have other things on their mind.
He went into his bedroom. The pictures on the desk hadn't changed in any way. In a way he had lost a daughter, too. Looking at her felt so strange now, now that he would never see her again. Actually she had never really existed, only in his memories, and those of the Sailor Senshi.
Had Chibi-Usa simply vanished? Or did she live in a different timeline? In a parallel universe? To answer that question, you had to understand what time really was, and so far no one did. Perhaps Setsuna would know. The guardian of time knew more about its secrets than anyone else did.
***
Rei felt extremely sorry for disturbing Usagi's family, nevertheless she had to get into her friend's room. She had to make sure, no one found out anything about Usagi's secret identity. That would only raise more questions, and also endanger the identities of the other Senshi. They were vulnerable enough without Sailor Moon.
She told Kenji she needed to get some school stuff Usagi had borrowed from her, and he let her in. Once in Usagi's room she closed the door behind her and took a deep breath.
Yesterday had been a horrible day. They needed to make up a plausible story for the police, and had to make sure their depositions did not contradict. Fortunate enough no one suspected anything, and no one expected them to stay calm all the time. After all they had watched a friend die, and that was the truth, no matter what version of the story.
As Rei stood in Usagi's room she realized yesterday was nothing compared to this. The pain gripped her almost instantly, it seemed like a physical hand knocking her down.
The room was a chaos like always, books, clothes, even toys scattered everywhere on the floor. No one, who didn't know her, would believe that this room belonged to a seventeen-year-old.
On her desk lay an unfinished drawing, with a bunch of colored pencils around. Usagi would never come back to finish it. She would never again read any of the manga piled up next to her pillow. She would never again wear her dark blue school uniform. And she had been so proud to pass the exams.
Rei's eyes were locked on the uniform, it was ironed and neatly placed on a hanger. That was probably Ikuko's doing, after all she couldn't have known, that her daughter wouldn't need it anymore. It was impossible to imagine how she felt now, having raised a kid for almost twenty years, and then......
Rei tried to fight it, tried to hold back the tears, she knew once they broke through, she could forget everything about keeping a cool head. She had an obligation towards the others, they relied on her. She could not let them down. What was worse, she could not let Usagi down.
She already had Usagi's brouch and her communicator. In the bottom drawer of her desk was the transformation pen. Although it had lost its power long ago, she decided to take it with her, just to be sure.
She could not possibly collect all the drawings, stories, manga and the other stuff Usagi had created about being a Senshi and a princess. That didn't really matter, no one would think them anything other than the imaginations of a creative young girl. No one would take them for real.
It would be different with a diary. She knew that Usagi had kept one, and probably she would have mixed everyday-life-stories with her Sailor adventures.
Where would she keep it? Even an untidy girl would attach great importance to something as private as a diary. The classical hideout would be somewhere near the bed, perhaps under the matress.
There it was.A pink heart-shaped book with a lock. Now only one more thing was missing. The clock Usagi had recieved from Mamoru, a golden watch on a chain, shaped like a star. When you opened it, it played a sweet melody. How much she had loved it! It was a big surprise anyway, that she hadn't taken it with her, when she had left. So it had to be here. But where? She had already checked all the places a girl would hide private things.
She didn't know for sure how that clock was connected to Usagi's secret identity, after all any girl could own gifts from her boyfriend. But she knew for sure it was a magic item. A miko could tell these things.
"You alright?" Shingo looked into the room. She noticed that he had grown bigger than her. No wonder, he was already fifteen. She still remembered the little boy, who had played tricks on them. She had still thought of him as a little boy when she had dinner at Usagi's place about a week ago. Now he had grown.
"No", she said as an answer to his question. "I'm not! But none of us is, I guess! But I got my stuff, if that's what you mean."
They went downstairs. She was already out the door, when he called her back. "Say Rei-san!" She turned around.
"I was wondering," he said a little embarassed, "like in a few weeks or months, when Mom feels a little better, I was wondering if you and the others could still come over some time. If you guys want to have tea with us, or something."
She nodded "Sure."